Former national security adviser Michael Flynn seeks immunity for testimony

Former national security adviser Michael Flynn is willing to testify before federal and congressional investigators in their ongoing probe into Russian meddling in the US elections, but only if he is granted immunity, his lawyer said Thursday.

The possibility that Flynn — formerly a key adviser to President Donald Trump during the campaign — could testify potentially represents a major development in the probe into alleged ties between the Trump campaign and Russia. Questions have swirled about the nature of Flynn’s ties to Russia and whether he violated any restrictions on contacts with foreign officials, and he was forced to resign after he misled Vice President Mike Pence about his communications with the Russian ambassador to the US.

“Gen. Flynn certainly has a story to tell, and he very much wants to tell it, should the circumstances permit. … No reasonable person, who has the benefit of advice from counsel, would submit to questioning in such a highly politicized, witch-hunt environment without assurances against unfair prosecution,” Robert Kelner, Flynn’s lawyer, said in a statement late Thursday.

Three former Trump aides who are at the center of the federal investigation into Russia’s interference in the US elections have already come forward and said they would testify freely — without the promise of immunity. Former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, former adviser Roger Stone and former foreign policy adviser Carter Page all said, via their lawyers, last week that they were ready to come before House and Senate investigators.

House investigators have been discussing bringing Flynn in for weeks now, but they have also expressed concerns that Flynn would plead the Fifth Amendment if forced to testify.

Democrats, meanwhile, quickly shot around a comment Flynn made last year on MSNBC, that “when you are given immunity, that means you probably committed a crime.”